16′ Skin on Frame Canoe

This was a really fun project. A friend wanted to build a boat before he hit 40. You know of course that building or having a wooden boat built adds ten years to your life or so my friend Mike claims. Mind you he’s a fellow wooden boatbuilder and not a geriatrician. But I believe him.

So he asked me if I’d help him out with building an ultra lightweight skin on frame canoe that he could tow up river with his bike, load the bike into and paddle back down river. Well that was his plan but I think it’s easier to lift onto the top of the car. So he has been paddling the coasts of West Cork, Connemara, the Shannon and as far as I can make out any bit of wet that catches his eye. I say wet as I’ve been out in this boat with him and we have literally paddled over flooded stone walls. In January! wait a minute he’s even crazier than me.

Specification:
16′ Length Overall
3′ Beam
2’6″ Draught
32lbs Weight

It took us a very hectic week to put the frame together using Norwegian fir for the stringers and Ash for the steam bent ribs. All lashed and stiffened with Kevlar rovings and skinned with a heat shrink dacron. You could of course use various other materials if you wished. There was of course lots and lots of sanding and varnishing to finish the boat.

Since he launched the boat in 2012 he’s been spending a hell of a lot of time talking to interested/interesting people on launch ramps up and down the country and of course been totally immersed in the quiet beauty of a cloth and wood canoe gliding silently along with just the odd splash of a rising fish and a dipping paddle.